06-28-2011, 09:18 AM
I couldn't honestly say, I've never tried being non-English-speaking before 
I know a few poets who write in English as their second language and manage to handle the meter just fine -- one Spanish, one Czech, and a couple of Indians, so the base language doesn't seem to matter from those examples. Having said that, I know far more native English speakers who can't handle meter at all!
It really does come down to your ability to recognise patterns. Meter actually has very little to do with language itself, it's the mathematical part of poetry.
I know a few poets who write in English as their second language and manage to handle the meter just fine -- one Spanish, one Czech, and a couple of Indians, so the base language doesn't seem to matter from those examples. Having said that, I know far more native English speakers who can't handle meter at all!
It really does come down to your ability to recognise patterns. Meter actually has very little to do with language itself, it's the mathematical part of poetry.
It could be worse